Ornamental indoor plants in hospital rooms enhanced health outcomes of patients recovering from surgery.
Level 2 - randomized trial
Individual randomized controlled trial.
PubMed 19715461 · doi:10.1089/acm.2009.0075
What was done
Ninety patients recovering from hemorrhoidectomy were randomly assigned to either standard hospital rooms (control) or rooms with live ornamental plants and flowers during their postoperative recovery period. Researchers measured length of hospitalization, analgesic usage, vital signs, ratings of pain intensity, distress, anxiety, fatigue, anxiety scores (STAI Form Y-1), room satisfaction, and environmental ratings.
What was found
The abstract reports that patients in rooms with plants had significantly lower systolic blood pressure and lower self-reported ratings of pain, anxiety, and fatigue compared with control patients. Patients in plant rooms also reported higher satisfaction with their rooms and more positive evaluations of the environment. The abstract reports no numerical values, effect sizes, or p-values for any outcome.
Why it matters
It suggests that low-cost environmental modifications, such as introducing indoor foliage and flowers into postoperative hospital rooms, may modestly improve physiological stress markers and patient recovery experiences.
Limits
The abstract provides no numerical data, confidence intervals, or statistical values. Blinding of participants is inherently impossible for this intervention, introducing a high risk of expectation bias for subjective outcomes (pain, anxiety, fatigue, room satisfaction). The sample was restricted to a single surgical type (hemorrhoidectomy) across 90 patients, limiting generalizability to broader surgical populations.
Cited by
- supports Hospitalized patients with plants in their rooms or windows with views of natural light and nature recover faster from illness and surgery.